From the depths of fanservicy guilty pleasure of hell makes the return of High School DxD Hero. It’s been nearly 3 years since the last time this anime aired on TV and to be honest, it needed a break after the disastrous third season. High School DxD Born left a bad taste in my mouth after seeing how far the franchise has fallen. Is Hero a chance for the show to redeem itself?

The fourth season covers the volume 9 and 10 from the light novels. This didn’t come as a surprise as the franchise has a tendency to build more into the story with established
concepts. To say the least, the franchise isn’t afraid of taking the risk to show off its fan service. Straight from the first episodes, we see the characters return with Issei still being a perverted self-proclaimed “Harem King”. It doesn’t take long for the plot to kick off after they visit Kyoto where a new story puts him in conflict with supernatural entities yet again.

Following a formulaic construction of the plot, the first half of the show adapts the 9th volume. We meet a fox girl named Kunou and after a misunderstanding, she pleads for Issei and the others to save her mother. The premise of this arc is incredibly straightforward after Issei realizes the responsibility they need to carry to get the job done. However, the arc is perhaps a bit too predictable and lacks the High School DxD-esque quality as the first two seasons. In other words, I must admit that a few of the first few episodes are too forced. The drama is too serious and didn’t make me care about Kunou as much as I had hoped for. On the other hand, there are still remnants of fun value we can see this season. The fan service returns thanks to the naïve personalities of characters like Xenovia and Irina. Even though Rias and the main cast aren’t there, Issei still gets a face of boobs, ass, and skinship. I say this with honesty that High School DxD is one of the few anime that works creatively well with the fanservice. Without it, the show would lose its identity. Luckily, the show does manage to find its way to bring that out again.

Covering the 10th volume, this fourth season manages to find itself well on the path of its roots again. By the time you’ve reached over the half the series, the familiar mood will return almost like yesterday. It also does a clever job at building up the inevitable battles as Ria’s Team goes up against Sairaorg Bael’s peerage. Remember, this franchise began with a concept known a “Rating Games” that has been a central element in the storytelling. This time, the stakes are more about pride to see which team is better. For Issei himself, there’s also some emotional stakes that he didn’t even realize himself. The fact that after three seasons, he’s still dense as a black hole should come as no surprise to viewers. In one particular episode, Rias directly confronts him about her feelings and we get a half-assed response from the guy. This may rub viewers in the wrong way as the relationship between Issei and Rias has been a central focus in the franchise.

The Rating Game itself also featured some comedic moments with the press conference buildup and the actual execution. There’s also some exploitation about the rules of the game to get viewers familiarized again. The actual battles felt more or less like a cheesy mix of underwhelming fighting. In fact, I would say most of them are insignificant that even includes Issei’s in the first rounds. The show only has 12 episodes so it limited itself from achieving full potential. To me, that’s a backstabber to fans of the franchise who wants to get the most from the action. Honestly, I think High School DxD’s action elements has always been one of its weaknesses and from season 4, that didn’t change much either. In some of the final few episodes, business picks up more as Issei confronts Sairaorg himself as we see how dangerous his rival really is.

One of the biggest changes of High School DxD Hero is the art style. The first three seasons were adapted by studio TNK that fans are familiar with. However, Passione takes the step this time to animate the project. They are perhaps best known for their work on Rokka no Yuuska and more recently, Citrus. I’m not going to lie, it’s going to take some time to get comfortable with it. The character models looks less detailed and cartoonier especially for the main girls. Don’t get me wrong though. Characters like Rias and Akeno still looks busty like the previous seasons. Even new characters like Yasaka gives the impression of a sexy older type. However, it will take time to get used to the new art style as there’s less details on the fan service. It’s still there especially if you watch the uncensored version with the boobs and ass being thrown at your face. The action still feels the same as the previous seasons though so don’t expect anything that will blow you out the water. Character designs in terms of plot direction improved slightly with an improved transformation of Issei. Similarly, character voice mannerism somewhat evolves this season that’s more noticeable in Rias and Issei. She is able to display her personality at best when together with Issei especially during some of their more emotional scenes. The theme songs still feature a mix of action and fanservice theatrics I’m sure fans are familiar with.

Well it’s been nearly three years since I’ve reviewed High School DxD. After the break, I think this show manages to step up slightly up to the plate. However, it’s not a big improvement over the third season and more like a step down compared to the first two. The plot is both easy to predict but hard to recall memorable moments from especially in its first episodes. It tests the viewers’ patience for its main character cast especially with Issei’s role. I also have to say honestly that Issei deserved a personal beating from the way he responded to Rias in that one particular episode. Otherwise, I think the fourth season is still worth the watch especially if you’re a diehard fan of the franchise. High School DxD always felt like it’s about having fun with itself. In this season, there’s still moments that manages to find its way towards that.

BOOOSTOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!Another HSDXD Sequel has ended and shit doesn't licensor funaimation ever get tired of putting up another sequel of this shitty thing, when this 4th sequel has taken 4 steps backward? Now, ok , this sequel has a different studio and it's under studio Passione, it may have a new character designer but the thing about this sequel was instead of moving forward with Issei's relationship with Rias, it rather took a couple of steps backward. Also the relationship of the guy's harem has taken a new twist were the harem itself no longer competes for the guys affection.The only that hasn't change was
the guy's "OPPAI" rant, that was rather annoying that there isn't an episode where you won't hear the word "OPPAI", and what's worst was it even desecrated a children's song ,now it has added child porn in it also the addition of new harem member in Ravel. The story may have been different but then again, it wa still the usual when we have Issei being this "OPPAI" Dragon is at first up against Cao cao and his posses and the later Sairaog who is just picking a fight and as usual it's up to Rias' pooses to deal with them just like in season 1, which I have to say the season 3's story plot was much better than this sequel . On the fanservices, nothing has change there is the usual panty service , boob service , swimsuit service and the usual onsen service, so frankly this sequel was still the same shit but different illustration so here were my ratings:

Story- Poor 3: Basically the story plot was almost like that of one part from season 1 to one part of season 3, where this sequel has become bad to worse.

Art-Good 7: I rated it for the sake of them you know who, out there whom were having a field day of seeing the kind of fan services that is the mainstay of this anime/manga.

Sound- Very Good 8: That was for the opening theme where it really does fit one element of this story plot "SWITCH ON, SWIIITCH OOOOON!"

Character- Pathetic 1: Since Issei's relationship with Rias has taken a couple of steps backwards and he's no longer this harem king wanna be despite of those girls throwing themselves on him in their birthday suits.

Enjoyment-Dreadful 2: I feel like that I wanna go there in Japan look for the people who made this sequel and give them a BOOOSTOOOOO amount of whooping in their asses.

Overall-Pathetic 1: Well by the looks of it another sequel is in the making when we see Azazel having a secret, that he doesn't tell Rias and her lackeys. So shit, shit and shit.

All right, if you are into High School DxD, you’re gonna like this. If you are not, then why are you still here? If you haven’t seen it, then go watch the other seasons first, otherwise you’re going to be clueless.

In fact, for those who have mostly forgotten, I’ll give a 4-sentence summary of what previously happened(Then I'll immediately get into the review.):

Issei has the Sacred Gear of Red Dragon Emperor DDraig. He has become a demon of the Gremory Household, most of which consists of girls who are attracted to him. Already he’s gone up against numerous
villains, having his powers developed to the point of many different abilities, including control of a mecha suit. (Juggernaut being the unstable but powerful version, as can be seen in the recent special “Taiikukan-ura no Holy”.)

(Characters)
To be honest, I’m not surprised the girls are into Issei. He’s got a heart of gold, is loyal, brave and goofy. And a bumbling pervert. Which is fitting for a series this fond of boobs. (Also makes for a funny character flaw.) All of the girls have felt empowered by him at some point in previous seasons, and personally, I kinda like him too. Although, I have to admit that their attraction to him sometimes gets turned up to near-absurd levels you only see in ecchi harems. Whether that’s a bad thing or not depends on you and how you interpret the Rule of Sexy (“It doesn’t really have to make sense as long as it is sexy.”).

Since most of the character development has been done in previous seasons, they don’t really get much in Hero. They are still the same however, as they should. Issei is still lewd but nice, Asia is still cutesy, Akeno is still teasing, Koneko is still kuudere and Rias is still Rias. As for the minor characters, there are only a few who are getting considerable screentime. One of them being Rossweisse, since she’s relatively new here. Then there are the antagonists, one of them stemming from the clusterfuck that is the Khaos Brigade and who is underdeveloped. The other one is Sairaorg Bael, who is pretty cool, being someone without powers becoming strong by training and who feels the need to prove himself because of this, and whose character is pulled off well enough. Anytime when the characters do get fleshed out a little it can make for endearing moments, which is probably one of the reasons people like the series.

(Animation)
Now, the biggest concern that I have heard from those who are into DxD, is that the animation has changed. Particularly the character designs, which have been simplified. Since apparently BorN wasn’t quite the success, the series has gone from TNK to relatively new studio Passione, who then used an artstyle of their own. Some people may have found the design change difficult to accept.

However, simplifying the design has somewhat worked in the shows favour. By doing this, it has become easier to animate, and it gives the characters a softer look. (Being a fanservice show, having them look softer… might definitely work in favour of the show. The women are also quite voluptuous.) On top of that, it manages to blend in nicely with the general atmosphere and style of the show.

On the other side, it doesn't have great animation per se. While it does look fine overall, with bright colours and decent fights, occasionally there are small issues like characters without shadows, awkward walking animation or facial expressions or something that just doesn’t look that smooth. It can be distracting, but it doesn’t necessarily have a large effect on the overall quality, since most of the parts that need to look good, look good. So yeah, mostly some fights and fanservice.

(Story)
Quick summary: “Issei and some of the characters go on a Kyoto school trip, and there are a bunch of fox-youkai over there. Something is going on with that.”

Two episodes in, and I began to see that it was fast-paced as heck. There can be little time to breath in between scenes, and sometimes I would forget what just happened. However, the story isn’t that complex, so it’s not too hard to follow. As usual with DxD, the story isn’t anything impressive, but still just engaging enough to keep you watching and when combined with the characters, it actually makes you care.

(Sound)
Ok, so DxD still has a soundtrack that fits with its style. This being the nice beats and bittersweet melodies. When this music gets played under a scene, it tends to fit the tone and not be overshadowing anything, while being turned up a notch when the moment calls for it. The OP and ED songs are nothing special really, although the ED has some memorable visuals. Not to say that these are bad, since they are pleasant to listen to. As for the voice acting, the people are just doing their job and are doing it well.

(Enjoyment/Overall)
The series manages to do what sold it in the first place. For most of us, this would not only be the sexy fanservice, but also at least two or three likeable characters and an even more likeable protagonist, a story that manages to be engaging, and just overall decent animation and soundtrack. High School DxD is kinda silly, but knows what it is and has a lot of charm. This season itself is not necessarily better than previous seasons, but not much worse either. For most of the time, while it had some small issues, it was entertaining. And finally, that is what counts the most.

As you all know just by the cover alone this is full of so much "fan service" it could write a book has every style of character from the provocative to the shy and every type between. As a story goes it has one that plays out in often times extremely comedic fashion enough to make me laugh with its wit and sometimes satistic manner. Yes it's full of lots of Opai of all sizes but mostly more on the curvatishios the animation and character design are well done and fit their character types some with more underlying hidden aspects then what is outrightly perceived.

The
back story is well put together with enough depth to give the world a semblance of life in an occult fashion. While the anime leads itself to a fixed track often seen in hermes it borrows from others such as a hero growing in power giving it a bit of play where there are love triangles it becomes more of a romance between two with supporting characters who try to show their best to win out. Attitudes change characters evolve and we gain a good sense of progress.

Overall I love the show it's a great show for anyone who loves ecchi with a bit more depth then just fighting for the sake of making your opponents cloths fall off yet your skin never more then dirty (unless you are a male character then you contain enough blood to fill a swimming pool) a standard theme in any fighting ecchi.
If you have the time it's a great binge watch and fully uncensored only makes it more funny at times then odd attempts like smoke, hair that magically covers everything

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